When Freyja Garbett steps onto the stage at City Recital Hall to support Japanese jazz icon Hiromi on 23 October, she’ll be doing more than performing her original compositions. She’ll be closing a loop, one that began on the beaches of the NSW South Coast, where she first started collecting motion data while surfing and transforming it into music.

“It’s definitely a dream realised,” Garbett says. “Hiromi is a powerhouse pianist I’ve long admired. To play my own music alongside my incredible band, Sandy Evans, Miles Thomas and Maximillian Alduca, on such a beautiful stage, feels surreal.”

The performance is part of SIMA’s Sydney Women’s International Jazz Festival and co-presented by Melbourne Jazz Festival, and marks a high point in Garbett’s evolution as a composer, producer and educator. Her upcoming album, Music from the Waves, commissioned by ABC Jazz and due for release in early 2026, draws from her postgraduate research at Sydney Conservatorium of Music: a radical experiment in sonifying motion data collected while surfing at Thirroul, Woonona and Krui in Sumatra.

“I’ve always felt a philosophical link between surfing and improvisation,” she says. “But I wanted to capture that connection in sound. With help from Ed Kuschel at Elk Electronik, I built a semi-waterproof motion data collector, strapped it to my arm, and started surfing. The data was then processed through analogue and digital synthesisers, and I improvised in response to the sonifications.”

The result is a suite of compositions that reflect Garbett’s coastal lifestyle and her desire to forge a more authentic musical language — one that’s rooted in place, movement and intuition. “Living in regional Australia, I sometimes felt removed from the jazz and session music world,” she says. “But this work gave me something I can truly call my own.”

Freyja Garbett. Photo supplied

That sense of belonging was catalysed by her involvement in the inaugural Equity in Jazz cohort at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, a program designed to support female-identifying and gender-diverse musicians in jazz. “We’d just come out of COVID, and I felt disconnected from the musical community,” Garbett recalls. “I’d even started studying psychology. Being selected alongside artists like Jess Green, Tamara Murphy and Gian Slater gave me the confidence to reconnect with music again.”

Led by Jo Lawry, known for her solo work and collaborations with Sting, the program, including supervision from jazz drummer Simon Barker, helped Garbett refine her research concept and deepen her creative practice. “It was a turning point,” she says. “I was able to push the project further than I’d imagined, even travelling to Indonesia to collect wave data.”

Now, Garbett is paying it forward. From 2–5 October, she’ll lead a jazz workshop at Wollongong Conservatorium, alongside guitarist Hilary Geddes and bassist Lucy Clifford. Supported by the Anthony and Sharon Lee Foundation, Sisters Of Sound, SIMA and the Equity in Jazz program (now led by Jess Green), the workshop aims to help young women and gender-diverse musicians find each other, form bands and build confidence through improvisation.

“It’s about creating a nurturing space,” Garbett says. “We want to support not just the musicians, but also their families, helping parents and carers understand how to support young artists with rehearsal spaces, transport and performance opportunities.”

Freyja Garbett. Photo Gxbrielle Mxry

For Garbett, the workshop is part of a broader push to make jazz more inclusive and locally grounded. “I want emerging musicians to know it’s possible to carve your own path, even if it feels unconventional,” she says. “Composition has become a real focal point for me, and I’ve even started writing for video games, which I never would have imagined a few years ago.”

Her advice to young musicians?

“Try not to compare yourself to others. Growth is subtle and non-linear … stay off Instagram during practice time. Your future chops will thank you.”

Often, she says, breakthroughs arrive just when you feel stuck. “Your playing and creativity will keep evolving in ways you can’t always predict, especially during the most challenging times. Try your best to keep a broad perspective, and remember this is a long game.”

Freyja Garbett will support Hiromi on 23 October at City Recital Hall, part of the Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival and presented by SIMA and Melbourne Jazz Festival.

The Wollongong Jazz Workshop runs 2–5 October at Wollongong Conservatorium of Music, led by Freyja Garbett, Hilary Geddes and Lucy Clifford. Open to young women and gender-diverse musicians, the program offers ensemble training, improvisation, mentorship and community-building. Supported by the Anthony and Sharon Lee Foundation, Sisters of Sound, the Equity in Jazz Program and SIMA.